Understanding Houston

Funding, Enrollment & Teachers

Funding, Enrollment & Teachers

A thriving public school system requires sufficient funding, robust student enrollment, and effective teachers

Student enrollment increased in Fort Bend and Montgomery counties although their per pupil spending continues to lag the state. Teachers across Texas and the Houston three-county region continue to grow more diverse, but teacher turnover rates remain elevated in Harris County. The average base pay for teachers in the Houston region is higher than the state, but public Texas school teacher salaries continue to lag the national average.

Why school funding, enrollment, and teachers matter to Houston

Public schools need students, teachers and funding. School funding formulas, notoriously complex, determine how much Houston-area schools can spend on essentials like textbooks, staff, computers and even facility maintenance. Research has shown high school graduation rates increase by about seven percentage points for all students — and roughly 10 percentage points for students from low-income families — for every 10% increase in per-pupil spending.1 An analysis of funding gaps in Texas school districts, the difference between funding a district needs versus what the district receives, found that districts with funding gaps exceeding 40% are strongly associated with a Texas Education Agency student achievement rating of C or lower.

Teachers, of course, are essential to student learning.2 When students are educated by teachers who are supported, well-compensated and experienced, they have better academic outcomes that persist over time, are more likely to succeed in future academic work, are more likely to graduate from high school,3 and are more likely to enroll in higher education.4

When schools, students, and teachers are equipped with the resources they need in order to thrive, the foundation of the entire public school system is strengthened, and consequently, so is the future of our region.

The data

Per pupil spending in Houston’s three-county area lags that of the state

How does school funding affect students? Funding is critical for student success. Research has shown high school graduation rates increase by about seven percentage points for all students — and roughly 10 percentage points for students from low-income families — for every 10% increase in per-pupil spending.5

In 2024, the U.S. spent $17,619 per pupil (costs associated with instruction, student support services, and payroll for public pre-K-12 schools), according to the Census’ Annual Survey of School System Finances.

Where does Texas rank in school funding per child? According to the Census Bureau, average per pupil spending in Texas ($12,895) is well below the national average.6 Among all 50 states and District of Columbia, Texas ranks 43rd on this measure (compared to its rank as 44th in 2019).

Texas ranks 43rd in average per pupil spending

Furthermore, a 2024 analysis conducted by Houston Education Research Consortium found that 73% of Texas school districts were underfunded during the 2020-21 school year and that a statistically significant relationship exists between district funding gaps and student achievement with districts that have larger funding gaps generally having lower student achievement.

Total Operating Expenditures per Pupil measures the total operating expenditures, divided by the number of students. This measure excludes debt service, construction expenditures, and other capital outlays. It is a key metric as it reflects the level of resources available to support each student’s education.

Total operating expenditures per student7 in Texas has remained relatively flat since 2008–09 despite some fluctuation. Operating expenditures per student in Texas was $12,951 in 2024–25 compared to $12,865 in 2008–09 in 2025 inflation-adjusted dollars, according to the Texas Education Agency (TEA). That’s an increase of about $700 or 5%.

In Greater Houston public schools, Harris County’s per pupil spending has historically been around or slightly below Texas’s while Montgomery County has consistently had the lowest spending per pupil in the three-county Houston region. In the 2024–25 school year, public schools spent $13,058 per pupil in Harris County, $11,560 in Fort Bend County, and $11,245 in Montgomery County. Notably, Fort Bend County’s per pupil spending decreased by 7% points in one year between 2021-22 and 2022-23 and has yet to rebound.

Student enrollment grows in Fort Bend and Montgomery counties but falls in Harris County

Enrollment refers to the number of students enrolled in public schools (including charters) from early childhood education (pre-K) through 12th grade as of the last Friday in October.

Enrollment in Texas public schools reached nearly 5.5 million students in the 2025–26 school year, an increase of 5% since 2014–15. Since the 1987-88 school year, when the Texas Education Agency began collecting data in its current system, public school enrollment in Texas has declined only twice: a 2% dip between 2019–20 and 2020–21, an effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, and again most recently by 1.4% between 2024–25 and 2025–26.

Across the three-county area, 1.1 million students were enrolled in public schools for the 2025–26 academic year, representing a 2% increase from 2014–15. During this period, enrollment in Harris County declined by 4%, but Fort Bend and Montgomery counties saw significant growth increasing by 25% and 32%, respectively. Enrollment in Fort Bend and Montgomery counties has surpassed pre-pandemic levels but have yet to recover in Harris County where enrollment is still down 6% since 2019–20.

Student enrollment in the region’s suburban counties had double-digit increases between 2014–15 and 2025–26.

Enrollment by Race/Ethnicity

Public schools in Texas and in Houston’s three-county region serve a diverse population of students — the majority of whom identify as nonwhite, consistent with the racial/ethnic composition of Greater Houston’s population.

In the 2025–26 school year in Texas, Hispanic students comprised a majority of enrolled students (53%), followed by white (24%), Black (13%), Asian American (6%), and multiracial (3%) students. Among the three local counties, Montgomery has the highest percentage of students who are white (40%), Fort Bend has the highest share of Asian American students (21%), and Harris County has the largest proportion of Hispanic students (56%) making up over half the student population. This reflects the demographic composition of these counties.

Between the 2019–20 and 2025–26 school years, the racial/ethnic composition of students did not change much across the Houston three-county region or Texas with the exception of Montgomery County where the percentage of white students decreased by nine points.

Enrollment by Socioeconomic Status

School districts are required to collect and report the socioeconomic status of each student to the Texas Education Agency for purposes of the annual state accountability ratings and for federal reporting. A student who is eligible for free or reduced-price lunch or for other public assistance is classified as “economically disadvantaged.”

In 2025–26, the majority (60%) of students enrolled in Texas public schools were classified as economically disadvantaged. While the share of economically disadvantaged students has grown over the last decade throughout the three-county area, it remains highest in Harris County at 67%. Harris County’s percentage of economically disadvantaged students is higher than the state (60%), Montgomery County (49%), and Fort Bend County (47%). However, the percentage of economically disadvantaged students has increased slightly faster in Fort Bend (8 points) and Montgomery (8 points) counties compared to Harris County (4 points) since 2014–15. More recently, we saw the share of economically disadvantaged students tick down across the region and state in 2024–25 and remain flat in 2025–26.

The majority (60%) of students enrolled in Texas public schools were classified as economically disadvantaged

Enrollment of Emergent Bilingual Students

Students whose primary language at home is not English and who are not yet proficient in English are classified as emergent bilingual (EB). EBs are a diverse group of students with varying levels of English proficiency. Students classified as EBs are eligible to participate in language assistance programs that help them attain English proficiency and support core academic programs such as English as a second language, dual language, or bilingual programs. Research has shown that participation in enhanced language programs not only helps to improve students’ English language skills, but also helps to improve educational outcomes.8

The proportion of students classified as EB has grown in our region and across the state since 2014–15. As of the 2025–26 school year, 21% of students in Fort Bend County are classified as EB, 31% in Harris County, 21% in Montgomery County, and 24% across Texas.

The number of emergent bilingual students continues to grow in our region – increasing by 31% between 2014–15 and 2025–26.

Texas replaced the term “English learner” (EL) with emergent bilingual (EB) to emphasize bilingualism as a strength, reflecting  research on the cognitive benefits of learning multiple languages. However, the timing of reclassification to English proficient significantly affects student outcomes. Students who reclassify as English proficient in elementary school typically outperform their peers, including those who were never classified as EB. In contrast, students who remain classified as EB through middle or high school face greater academic challenges.

A report from Rice University’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research found a growing share of EB students are not reclassified by the time they enter middle school. Among students who began first grade in 2011–12, nearly half had not been reclassified by the time they began middle school in 2016–17. That rate grew to over 80% for students who started first grade in 2018–19 and entered middle school in 2023–24. This report points to a key change made in 2018 to the Texas English Language Proficiency Assessment—the test for students to be classified as English proficient—particularly the shift from an in-person, teacher-administered exam to an online assessment. In 2017, the year prior to the changes, more than half of students passed the oral portion but that dropped to just 7.6% in 2018.

Enrollment in Special Education

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) ensures all eligible children with disabilities receive a free appropriate public education. However, students with disabilities in Texas had not been receiving the services, therapies, and education they require because of a 2004 policy set by the Texas Education Agency (TEA) that capped the percentage of students who could receive special education services at 8.5%, denying thousands of students the support they needed. After a 2016 Houston Chronicle investigation, the cap was banned in 2017. Then in 2018, the U.S. Department of Education found Texas had violated federal law by setting this cap and ordered Texas to create a plan to correct the problem.

Despite this, a 2021 follow-up revealed that the TEA had failed to implement the necessary changes to comply with IDEA. As of 2023, the U.S. Department of Education announced that the Texas Education Agency had fulfilled its obligations as outlined in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. To ensure continued compliance, the Texas Education Agency conducts annual compliance reviews of local education agencies.

Recent data from the Texas Education Agency show the percentage of students served in special education programs has increased significantly, nearly doubling, since the Houston Chronicle investigation came out in 2016. In 2025–26, the percentage of students enrolled in special education programs was 16% in Fort Bend, 15% in Harris, and 17% in Montgomery counties. While more current data is not yet available, in 2022–23 the national rate was 15%, according to the 2023 Digest of Education Statistics.

Between 2014–15 and 2025–26, the percentage of students in special education programs more than doubled in Fort Bend and Montgomery counties and increased by 7 percentage points in Harris County and 8 points statewide.

Teacher turnover in Harris County remains elevated

Research has established that teachers are the No. 1 predictor of student success inside the classroom.9 They are critical and foundational to delivering a high-quality education. Students who have consistent access to excellent teachers have better academic outcomes, are more likely to succeed in future academic work, are more likely to graduate from high school,10 and are more likely to enroll in higher education.11

Teacher Experience

Similar to professionals in other occupations, as teachers gain experience, they become more effective. As teachers have time to develop and master their craft, their students show academic gains. These gains are more pronounced in the first decade of teaching, but extend through the second and third decade as well, and their students also have better attendance and score higher on standardized tests (one measure of learning).12

Nationally, American teachers had an average of 14.5 years of teaching experience in 2020–21 (most recent data available), well below the 11.2-year average among teachers in Texas for the same year, which suggests teachers in Texas are more likely to leave their profession earlier.

Across the state, average teacher experience did not increase much between 2018–19 (11.1 years) and 2024–25 (11.2 years). Average teacher experience in Harris County tends to be lower than in the suburban counties and the state average.

Across all three counties and the state, the percentage of teachers with five or fewer years of experience fell in Fort Bend and Montgomery counties and rose in Harris County between 2018–19 and 2024–25. More than a third of teachers (36 %) statewide have five or fewer years of experience, with similar percentages across the three-county area. Among Houston’s three-county region, students in Harris County are more likely to be educated by new teachers than those in Fort Bend or Montgomery counties.

Research also shows that Black and Latino students are most likely to be in classrooms with teachers who are in their first year of teaching or their first five years of teaching (known as “novice teachers”). The Education Trust found that about 34% of Black students and 17% of Latino13 students in Texas attended schools with high percentages (i.e., greater than or equal to 20%) of novice teachers.

Black and Latino students in Texas are more likely than white students to attend schools with high percentages of novice teachers.

Teacher Demographics

Looking at teacher demographics is important because being taught by a diverse teacher workforce has benefits for all students, not just those of color, but the benefits tend to be more pronounced for students of color. Students who are taught by a diverse workforce show better academic outcomes, lower suspension rates, and higher graduation rates.14

Students who are taught by a diverse workforce show better academic outcomes, lower suspension rates, and higher graduation rates.

Compared to the racial/ethnic makeup of the student body, the teacher workforce in the Texas public school system is far less diverse. While the majority of teachers in Texas are white (52%), diversity is increasing. Between the 2012–13 and the 2024–25 school years, the percentage of white teachers declined from 63% to 52%, while the share of Hispanic teachers increased by 6 percentage points to 31%, and the share of Black teachers increased more than three points to 13%. The proportion of teachers in Texas who are Black is proportionate to the proportion of students who identify as Black. However, the proportion of white teachers (52%) is double the proportion of white students (24%), and the proportion of Hispanic teachers (31%) is much lower than the proportion of Hispanic students (53%).

Mirroring larger trends in Greater Houston’s diversity, the teacher workforce in Fort Bend and Harris counties is much more diverse than in Montgomery County and the state overall. In 2024–25, Harris County, the composition of the teacher workforce was 40% white, 28% Hispanic, and 26% Black. In Fort Bend County, during the 2024–25 school year, 42% of teachers were white, 29% were Black, and 19% Hispanic. In Montgomery County, 72% of teachers were white although this rate has decreased by 13 points since 2012–13. Throughout the three-county area, the percentage of Black teachers is almost double the of the state.

Teacher Turnover

In order for teachers to gain the experience essential to improving their effectiveness, they need support to remain in the profession. Over the past few years, teacher shortages have been a growing concern as educators leave the profession.15  Nationally every school year, 1 in 7 public school teachers turnover, meaning they move schools or leave the profession, and attrition rates in urban-area and high-poverty schools are higher than average,16 and. Teacher turnover rates can provide an indication of the challenges school districts face to replace teachers who may have left the profession or gone to another school district or private schools.

Teacher turnover rates tend to be higher in Harris County compared to the suburban counties. In 2024–25, 21% of teachers in Harris County turned over compared to 17% in Fort Bend and Montgomery counties and 19% statewide. The teacher turnover rate in Houston’s three-county region and in Texas overall improved between 2018–19 and 2020–21. Turnover rates in Houston’s three-county region and statewide peaked to at least 20% in 2022–23 before declining by 2024–25, except in Harris County where they remained elevated.

The Texas Education Agency determines minimum salary schedules for public school teachers statewide. For the 2025–26 school year, the minimum salaries for teachers across Texas ranged from $33,960 for first-time teachers to $55,030 for teachers with 20 or more years of experience. After factoring in education and experience, Texas public school teachers earned 23% less in weekly wages than similar college graduates in 2024 — better than the national average of 27%.

Controlling for inflation, it is estimated that the average Texas public school teacher salary decreased by 6% between 2018–19 and 2024–25. In 2024–25 the average salary of a public school teacher was $63,749 in Texas, which is about 17% lower than the national average of $76,455.

The average base salary for teachers in Fort Bend and Harris counties is about 6% higher than the state average. Fort Bend and Harris counties offered the region’s highest average annual base pay during the 2025–26 school year at $72,017 and $71,945, respectively. Average base pay for teachers in Montgomery County is slightly lower at $69,349.

Continue reading about education in Houston on our educational attainment, academic outcomes and post-secondary education pages

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Resources

References:

  1. C. Kirabo Jackson & Rucker C. Johnson & Claudia Persico. (2015). “The Effects of School Spending on Educational and Economic Outcomes: Evidence from School Finance Reforms,” NBER Working Papers 20847, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.https://ideas.repec.org/p/nbr/nberwo/20847.html
  2. Chetty, Raj, John N. Friedman, and Jonah E. Rockoff, (May 2014). “Measuring the Impacts of Teachers II: Teacher Value-Added and Student Outcomes in Adulthood,” American Economic Review, 104(9) 2633–2679.
  3. Jackson, C. Kirabo. (October 2018) “What Do Test Scores Miss? The Importance of Teacher Effects on Non–Test Score Outcomes.” Journal of Political Economy, 126(5), 2072–2107. https://doi.org/10.1086/699018
  4. Chetty, Raj, John N. Friedman, and Jonah E. Rockoff, (May 2014).
  5. C. Kirabo Jackson & Rucker C. Johnson & Claudia Persico. (2015).
  6. This is true even after factoring in cost of living differences. Generally speaking, the cost of living in Texas is about 92% to 95% of the national average. Essentially, when student funding in Texas is increased by 5-8%, the result is still below the national average of $13,187.
  7. This includes all expenditures made for the operations of the school district. Expenditures for debt service and capital outlay are excluded.
  8. Genesee, Fred, Kathryn Lindholm-Leary, William Saunders, and Donna Christian. (2005) “English language learners in US schools: An overview of research findings.” Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk, 10( 4), 363-385.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1207/s15327671espr1004_2
  9. Chetty, Raj, John N. Friedman, and Jonah E. Rockoff, (May 2014).
  10. Jackson, C. Kirabo. (October 2018).
  11. Chetty, Raj, John N. Friedman, and Jonah E. Rockoff, (May 2014).
  12. Kini, T., & Podolsky, A. (2016) Does Teaching Experience Increase Teacher Effectiveness? A Review of the Research. Palo Alto: Learning Policy Institute.). Retrieved from https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/our-work/publications-resources/does-teaching-experience-increase-teacher-effectiveness-review-research
  13. The Education Trust (2022). Educator Diversity State Profile: Texas. Retrieved from https://edtrust.org/rti/educator-diversity-state-profile-texas/
  14. Forthcoming Handbook of Research on Teachers of Color and Indigenous Teachers. Retrieved from https://uh.edu/education/research-convening/
  15. Sutcher, Leib, Linda Darling-Hammond, and Desiree Carver-Thomas. (2016) “A Coming Crisis in Teaching? Teacher Supply, Demand, and Shortages in the US.” Learning Policy Institute, pp. 499-534. https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/sites/default/files/product-files/A_Coming_Crisis_in_Teaching_REPORT.pdf
  16. Sutcher, L., Darling-Hammond, L., & Carver-Thomas, D. (2016).